Kidney Transplant Living Donors

800-821-1535

Kidney transplantation from a living donor brings several advantages to patients:

Decreased time on dialysis, and even helping patients avoid the need to start dialysis in the first place

Greater long-term success rates

Decreasing/eliminating the many years patients may spend on the organ donor waiting list

How Do I Find a Living Donor?

First, find out as much as you can about living donation. This will help you answer any questions others may have. If needed, request some living donor educational materials from the living donor office by calling 704-355-3602.

Donors can be close family members, spouses, friends, co-workers or church members. Any healthy individual with a compatible blood and tissue match may be considered as a potential donor. The potential donor does not need to be related to you.

It may be difficult for you to ask someone to donate a kidney. Some families appoint a "recipient advocate" whose job it will be to "get the word out" on your behalf. The recipient advocate will assist by offering potential donors information and phone numbers so potential donors can begin the process.

All potential donors are reviewed and evaluated by a separate donor team to ensure there are no conflicts of interest. They ensure donor safety before, during and after surgery.They may wish to speak to others who have donated and this will be provided.

Living Donor Team

In addition to the professionals who assist in transplantation, CMC Transplant Center also has a dedicated team for those interested in transplantation from living donors. These professionals will assist you through the process and can guide you through pre-screening through to post-surgery and beyond.

Your team will consist of:

Living Donor Coordinators: These registered nurses will assist you in learning more about donation, as well as guide potential donors through the medical testing phases until donors are cleared to donate. Once cleared to donate, they will also assist organ donors in getting scheduled for pre-op and surgery and follow along with donors in the hospital. We are also mandated to follow up with organ donors for at least two years after organ donation.

Living Donor Advocates: Transplant centers that perform living donor transplants are required to identify either an independent living donor advocate or an independent living donor advocate team to ensure protection of the rights of living donors and prospective living donors. At CMC Transplant Center, this advocate is an internal medicine physician who works directly on behalf of the organ donor.